USS ELLIOTT DD-967

A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS ELLIOTT DD-967

The Tin Can Sailor, July 2012

The keel of the SPRUANCE-class destroyer ELLIOT (DD-967) was laid down on 15 October 1973 by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation, Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was launched on 19 December 1974 and commissioned 22 January 1977.

She was named in honor of LTCDR Arthur J. Elliot, a hero of the Vietman War. She was the fifth of thirty-one SPRUANCE-class destroyers. Following her commissioning, she got underway for her new home port in San Diego, California. There, she completed shakedown, tested her weapons systems, and participated in a war-at-sea exercise with twenty-eight other ships. During cruise to the East Coast, the ELLIOT visited the hometown of LCDR Elliot in Rockland, Maine

In 1979, during her first overseas deployment, she operated in the Indian Ocean as a unit of the carrier MIDWAY (CV-41) Battle Group 77.4  The task group also included the USS ENGLAND (CG 22), USS CAMDEN (AOE-2), USS DOWNES (FF-1070), and USS ROBISON (DDG-12). They were  conducting routine operations in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden when a Soviet task group appeared.

The ELLIOT’s design enabled her to conduct surveillance operations for extended periods with a minimal likelihood of being observed. Making full use of her capabilities, she engaged in surveillance of the KARA-class cruiser PETROPAVLOVSK and the cruiser-carrier MINSK (CVHG-117) as the latter conducted VTOL Forger aircraft operations and KA-25 Hormone helicopter flights. For five days, the destroyer dogged the Soviet ship, photographing Forger fly-overs and launching her SH-2F LAMPS helicopter for aerial observations. In the process, her observers noted that the LAMPS was more maneuverable than the Soviet’s helo. Their close-in photographs of the ship and its aircraft provided valuable information.

The year 1981 was one of routine operations, after which the ELLIOT deployed to the Western Pacific where she took part in RECONEX 81-2. The exercise included a marine reconnaissance battalion’s landing evacuation from Luzon in the Philippines. She subsequently visited Hong Kong and Pattaya Beach, Thailand, and engaged in operations involving a thirty-six hour, full-power run and naval gunfire support for a SEAL delivery exercise.

In 1982 the ship’s shipboard systems were improved with the addition of an ECM suite including the SLQ-32, topside and magazine armor plating, and enhanced passive sonar. During her deployment she steamed to the site of the downed KAL 007, a Boeing 747 en route to Seoul, South Korea. It had strayed off course and was shot down by a Soviet SU-15. The ELLIOT was the first U. S. ship to reach the site. In 1983 her deployment ended with humanitarian efforts in Korea and the rescue of sixty-eight refugees who had risked their lives for freedom. She spent 1984 in Southern California for exercises and a selected repair availability.

The ELLIOT spent a portion of 1984 evading storms and typhoons, participating in an ENCOUNTEREX exercise with the NEW JERSEY battle group and the KITTY HAWK,                   assisting the submarine DARTER after a collision with a merchant ship, and engaging in exercises with the Thai navy. In 1986, she attended San Francisco’s Fleet Week and prepared for her upcoming deployment. Early in 1987 she began a fifth deployment that took her north to the Bering Sea. Later she rescued Vietnamese refugees from the Gulf of Thailand. After the attack on the USS STARK in the Persian Gulf, her crew worked on honing their response skills by manning battle stations several times a week. Returning from that deployment, the ELLIOT landed her ASROC launcher from the foc’sle and was refitted with a vertical launching system (VLS) capable of firing the antisubmarine rocket (ASROC) and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

As the ELLIOT moved into the 1990s, she deployed again to the Western Pacific. After  participating  in PACEX-89, the largest exercise to be held in the Pacific since the end of World War II, she headed to the Gulf of Alaska and, then, into the Bering Sea. En route, her crew endured unusually rough weather between San Diego and Pearl Harbor. As the ship pitched and rolled, the crew’s mess line collapsed onto the mess decks presenting repair crews with a challenging but not insurmountable task.

In 1991, the ELLIOT headed to the Arabian Gulf in the after math of the Gulf War  Her operations included escort duties into a Kuwaiti harbor, where the skies were still oil blackened from the burning wells and war-damaged off-shore oil platforms leaked crude oil into the sea. The hulks of sunken Iraqi ships were a grim reminder of the recent war. While in that area, the crew closely monitored the movements of Iranian navy ships while maintaining a lookout for mines. When a French research ship reported a mine, the ELLIOT was ordered to the scene to stand by as explosive ordnance specialists detonated it.

She had a second tour of duty in the Arabian Gulf in 1993 serving as the flagship for the Commander U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. On 1 September 1993 the ELLIOT steamed toward the North Arabian Gulf to provide gunfire support if needed. She remained on station for the majority of her deployment, but received no calls for fire. On 28 November her crew boarded the first cargo vessel inbound to Iraq since the end of the Iran-Iraq war.

In February 1995 ELLIOT participated in CNO Project 251 and fired Tomahawk Cruise Missiles from the Pacific Missile Test Range to a target at the China Lake Weapons Facility. Her deployment that year included port visits in Australia and American Samoa. The ELLIOT visited Bremerton, Washington; Vancouver and Victoria B.C.; San Francisco; and Seattle, Washington, for the 1996 SEAFAIR. At year’s end, she was in dry-dock for a major availability that took her into 1998.

During the ELLIOT’s 1998 deployment she added the now standard Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) operations to her duties. Later that year, she was one of six ships to carry out an attack on terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation for the American embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. The Tomahawk launch conducted by the ELLIOT and the other ships was among the earliest attacks on terrorist camps. Three years later, after she had completed her  WESTPAC deployment, she again had to turn her attention to the terrorist threat. Her crew engaged in homeland defense during Operation Noble Eagle. Shortly thereafter, the ELLIOT headed out for her final deployment, spending long days in the Arabian Gulf engaged in VBSS, searching for smuggled goods and possible terrorists.

During the summer of 2001, the first female officers joined the ship.                   LTJG Lesley Smith recalled that “was on a late Friday and the Quarterdeck Watch was surprised. They thought we had the wrong ship.” The number of women officers grew to seven in subsequent years. Because of the lack of berthing facilities, the enlisted crew remained all male.

The ELLIOT’s final eighteen months were spent training her decommissioning crew for an upcoming deployment aboard the USS FLETCHER (DD-992) as part of the Navy’s Sea Swap program. By then, the ship had completed twelve deployments, visited more than twenty ports, welcomed hundreds of sailors, and participated in a variety of combat operations. She was decommissioned on 2 December 2003, and joined the mothball fleet in Pearl Harbor. She was stricken from the navy list on 6 April 2004, and sunk as a target on 24 June 2005, during Talisman Saber 2005, a joint exercise of U.S. and Australian naval forces in the Coral Sea.

USS ELLIOTT DD-967 Ship History

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

USS Elliot (DD-967) was a Spruance-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi, the ship was named for Lieutenant Commander Arthur J. Elliot II, USN (1933–1968), who as commanding officer of Patrol Boat River Squadron 57, was killed in action in the Republic of Vietnam on 29 December 1968.

Elliot got underway on 24 January 1977 for her maiden voyage, transiting from Pascagoula, Mississippi, to San Diego, California, via the Panama Canal. She was assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet as a unit of Destroyer Squadron 9 (DesRon 9), under the administrative control of Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group Five and Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific. After arrival, Elliot conducted five weeks of shakedown training and participated in a combat exercise. Following these evolutions, she returned to her builders for a post shakedown yard availability.

After leaving the yard, Elliot sailed to Rockland, Maine arriving on 25 August. Neighboring Thomaston was the hometown of the sailor for whom the ship was named. During a four-day stay, the ship hosted several thousand guests and embarked 650 guests for a six-hour guest cruise. On 24 September Elliot reported to Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a six-month restricted yard availability during which her NATO Sea Sparrow and Harpoon missile systems were installed.

On 1 August 1978 Elliot shifted from the operational command of Destroyer Squadron Nine to Destroyer Squadron 31 (DesRon 31). Elliot departed for her first deployment, a seven-month Western Pacific tour, on 21 February 1979 as flagship of DesRon 31 in company with the aircraft carrier Ranger. On 31 March, Elliot departed Subic Bay, Philippines with Ranger, for operations in the Indian Ocean. Less than a week later, Elliot was transiting the Strait of Malacca in lead of Ranger when the carrier was involved in a collision with the oil tanker M/V Fortune resulting in the carrier having to return to Subic Bay for repairs. Elliot arrived in Diego Garcia on 12 April. Elliot then joined a battle group centered around Midway and participated in operations in the Gulf of Aden to maintain a U.S. military presence in the area. Elliot returned to Subic Bay on 15 June. Elliot was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for Indian Ocean contingency operations. Elliot arrived back at her homeport from her first deployment on 9 September 1979. Also notable on this deployment was Elliot tailing Soviet carrier Minsk for five days of observation of operations.

Elliot began her second deployment in 1980, under the command of Captain Stephen Clarey then after a change of command in Subic Bay, Philippines, Commander Doug Norton. On 23 January 1981, Elliot suffered a main bearing casualty resulting in one of her gas turbine engines having to be replaced. This replacement was completed at Subic Bay in only two days. On 21 April Elliot encountered the first of several refugee boats. Over the next eight days Elliot picked up 158 refugees for which the crew was awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal. Port visits on this deployment included stops in Hawaii, Guam, Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, and Singapore. She returned from this deployment on 23 May.

On 1 June 1981 Elliot was transferred to Destroyer Squadron 21. Elliot reported to Todd Pacific Shipyard in Seattle, Washington on 17 August for the first private sector overhaul ever conducted of a Spruance-class destroyer. Among other refurbishments and installations during this overhaul Elliot received an SLQ-32(V)2 electronic warfare system. Elliot completed overhaul on 30 April 1982. She returned to her homeport of NS San Diego on 21 May. On 1 July Elliot was reassigned from DesRon 21 to DesRon 17.

Elliot departed San Diego, California on 13 April 1983 for the third deployment of her career. Port visits on this deployment included stops in Hawaii, Philippines, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Guam and Hong Kong. On 31 July, a small boat was spotted by the forward lookout. A total of 68 Vietnamese refugees were subsequently rescued and were turned over to state officials in Subic Bay. Elliot was again awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for her rescue operation. During August, Elliot endured being at sea through the combined forces of two typhoons, though no significant damage resulted. On 1 September, Elliot departed Sasebo, Japan on four hours’ notice, to respond to the downing of KAL 007. Elliot steamed at 32 knots (59 km/h) for one thousand miles (1,600 km) and arrived approximately 48 hours later, the first Allied ship on station. “Elliot” remained on scene until 14 September along with other units of Allied nations (U.S., Korea, Japan). During the tense days immediately after the downing, “Elliot” encountered some thirty-two Soviet ships in the SAS area, most of which were men-of-war. “Elliot” and all Soviet combatant ships were at a continuous state of General Quarters (Battle Stations), with deck weapons ready to fire. Elliot returned from her third deployment on 18 November 1983.

On 27 January 1984, Elliot conducted a safe weapons offload at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. Shortly after departing this facility, Elliot struck a subsurface obstruction in the Seal Beach channel, causing some limited damage to the underwater hull and the starboard propeller. On 2 February, Elliot commenced a planned three-month selected repair availability (SRA) period in San Diego. On 30 April, Elliot proceeded to the Todd Shipyard facilities in San Pedro, California for repairs to her starboard propeller and sonar dome. In May, Elliot shifted operational command to Destroyer Squadron 5. In October, Elliot participated in Fleet Week ’84 festivities with 18 other ships in San Francisco, California. Elliot hosted more than 10,000 visitors during this event.

On 10 July 1985, Elliot departed on her fourth deployment as part of the New Jersey battle group. Port visits on this deployment included stops in Hawaii, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Brunei, and Hong Kong. In mid-September Elliot was engaged in an exercise with Republic of Korea ships. During the exercise, Elliot rendered on-scene assistance to the Darter which was disabled during a collision with the merchant ship Kansas Getty. On 1 December Elliot departed Subic Bay in company with the Kitty Hawk battle group for transit to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii arriving on 12 December. Elliot returned to her San Diego homeport on 21 December, ending her fourth deployment.

In May 1986 Elliot began a two-month selected repair availability which included installation of flight deck modifications necessary to support LAMPS Mk III helicopter operations. On 11 October Elliot arrived at San Francisco to participate in Fleet Week ’87 festivities.

In January 1987, Elliot departed on her fifth deployment. Highlights off this deployment included operations in the Bering Strait.

Elliot received a major overhaul in the 1988 / 1989 time frame, receiving, among other things, VLS, Phalanx CIWS, new TACAN and an upgraded Sea Sparrow system including MK 23 TAS radar.

Elliot departed San Diego on 9 September 1989 to participate in PACEX-89, said to be the largest major naval exercise in the Pacific since the close of World War II.^[1][2]Elliot’s course took it north to the Gulf of Alaska, then on to the Bering Sea, the northwest Pacific, East China Sea, and the Sea of Japan. Elliot made its sole port stop at Sasebo, Japan before returning home on 9 November 1989. During PACEX-89, Elliot conducted joint operations with other units of the Pacific Fleet as well as elements of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force. Elliot and its battlegroup were also overflown by two Soviet TU-95 Bear D reconnaissance aircraft. Another highlight was the group photograph Elliot participated in as one of fifty ships gathered in formation.

Elliot departed San Diego for WestPac-90 on 1 February 1990 as part of the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) Carrier Battlegroup “Charlie.” Ports visited included Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Pusan, Korea; Subic Bay, Philippines; Singapore; Pattaya Beach, Thailand; Diego Garcia, BIOT; Muscat, Oman; Fremantle; and Hong Kong. Elliot also participated in Team Spirit 1990 exercises with the South Korean military.

While transiting the South China Sea on 20 April 1990, Elliot rescued 35 Vietnamese refugees left adrift in a derelict boat and claiming to be the victims of pirates.^[3] Elliot’s captain, CDR Timothy LaFleur, made the determination to embark the refugees and scuttle their boat. After the refugees were fed and clothed (many in clothes donated by crewmembers), Elliot turned them over to a representative of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Singapore on 21 April.

Elliot returned from deployment on 1 August 1990, one day before Iraq invaded Kuwait. Elliot then entered the NASSCO yards on 9 September 1990 and remained there until 17 December, thus spending the majority of the Persian Gulf War on the sidelines.

Elliot deployed for WestPac-91 on 31 July 1991 with COMDESRON 17 embarked. Port visits were made to Pearl Harbor; Subic Bay; Phuket, Thailand; Bahrain; Oman; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Hong Kong. On 21 October, while deployed off the coast of Kuwait, Elliot was alerted by the French DGSE ship Le Berry to the presence of a drifting Iraqi LUGM-145 mine approximately 12 nm offshore from Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi port. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit One, Detachment 31 team members were flown in from Bahrain. With the assistance of Elliot’s air detachment the mine was safely detonated, resulting in a plume of water hundreds of feet tall. Elliot spent the Christmas holiday in Hong Kong before returning to San Diego on 20 January 1992.

Elliot reported to Southwest Marine Shipyard, San Diego in May 1992 for a yard period where she remained until August. On 16 November Elliot departed San Diego for a five-week counter narcotics cruise. This cruise included a port stop in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Elliot returned from this cruise on 21 December.

In June 1993, Elliot arrived in Portland, Oregon for the Portland Rose Festival. On 9 July Elliot departed San Diego for her next deployment. Port visits on this deployment included Hawaii, Guam, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Diego Garcia, Australia, and Fiji. By late August, Elliot was operating off the coast of Iran. Elliot continued operating in this region into November, serving as anti-air warfare commander and Persian Gulf force over-the-horizon track coordinator for portions of this time period. She also frequently conducted contingency strike operations exercises. During these operations, Elliot participated in boardings of merchant vessels in support of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

[1993-2003]

Elliot operated out of San Diego, California until she was decommissioned on 2 December 2003.

The decommissioned Elliot and William H. Standley were sunk off the eastern coast of Australia as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre, Elliot on 22 June 2005 and William H. Standley on 23 June 2005. Elliot is now resting at a depth of 4,551 fathoms (27,306 feet (8,323 meters) in the Coral Sea, located at 24°43′S 155°50′E, or roughly 100 nautical miles (190 kilometres) east of Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

• Navy Unit Commendation – (Aug 1998)
• Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation – (Sep 1983, Sep 1989 – Jul 1990, Dec 1992 – May 1993, Jan 1999 – Sep 2001)
• Battle “E” – (1979, 1981, 1992, 1993)
• Navy Expeditionary Medal – (Apr–Jun 1979)
• Southwest Asia Service Medal – (Sep–Dec 1991)
• Humanitarian Service Medal – (21–27 Apr 1981, 31 Jul 1983)